Random video

Syndicate

Newsletter 2008-02

Time for me to inform you a little about the last events of the half past year.

As I told you the new school year started in August. We were expecting admissions and they came! About 50 new students were enrolled, which to the local norms is quite an achievement. Not many schools can claim such a flow of admissions.

Our last year class-ten boys all passed their matric exams, and took admissions in several colleges, mostly in Chitral. Some of them reached as far as Peshawar and Swat, others chose for the army or police.

At school our class prep, the first of all, is full with little kids who are by far the most eager to come every morning. They are the real princes of our place! The ECD -program is functioning quite well, and those kids are delighted by so many toys and activities, which were till now unknown in the entire region. But for many parents it is a problem: they find it indeed strange that their little ones are not taught to read and write yet.

Unusually quiet and attentive...just for the picture!

The importance is laid on expression, language skills and coming into contact with resources that are otherwise inexistant in their lives. The teacher has been trained for a few weeks in July, gets every week a visit of some professionals who spend the whole day on her side, showing her new methods, observing her development, and she must be at this moment again participating to a workshop. My sole disappointment is that she does not seem to want to learn English. But on the other hand she uses Urdu which is also a must of course. I rely on the next nursery class to fix the English delay...

In September the new class 10 boys collected some money to enable them to organize a trip to the northern areas ( Gilgit and surroundings). If you want to read more about it see the article related to the subject on the website.

Another achievement this year was the successfull registration of the Ibn Batuta Educational Society with the Joint Stock Companies. This is a good news for us as it might allow us to get support or donation from NGO's for which being registered in this way is a must. Thanks to Shamsuddin for his efforts in this field!

Still overloaded!

As for our construction progresses at the school the kitchen has a roof, and a door. It became clean and better looking, but there are works yet to be performed: ceiling, electricity, white-wash and windows will make it still more pleasant. Anyway all this is due to the kind and zealous cooperation of one of our society member, namely Habib Anwar, who could get a small fund for building purpose from a local NGO.

Class 5 is posing...( pict. from Sandro)

The library in its temporary setting while the walls are being repaired in the original room.( pict from Sandro)

The end of the year came with its usual slowness and lethargy inherent to severe cold weather. The climatic conditions at the start of November don't allow one to much more than rushing from his heated nest to a not heated office or work and back. Nothing more torturing (at least for some of us!) than to try to write on a blackboard with frozen fingers, and toes that can't move anymore... As such the situation remains quite calm and we are just concerned with the arrangements of the December exams, after which we close the school for a period of two and a half months, during which snow will fall so heavily that all communication will be stopped and roads will be blocked ...if not destroyed.

And yet so naughty... (pict from Sandro)

This is the time I choose to escape, and this year I left the country at the beginning of December. It means I'm still in Belgium at present and as such easily available for further questions or contact.

No need to say once again that every kind of help, support or idea is more than welcome. We are always in search for funds as schools always do. At this time we are trying to register our vehicle, which is terribly costly, but which became unavoidable as we got serious threats of seeing it confiscated soon.